A Royal Scandal 3: Married Life
by Naseka
Summary: Finally, the long awaited trequel is here! How will Joseph and Clarisse handle married life together after her mother shows up for an unexpected visit? R & R
1. Chapter 1

After putting it off for two weeks, Clarisse and Joseph had finally decided to set a date for their honeymoon. Unfortunately for them, Clarisse's mother decided she wanted to visit the day before they were supposed to leave…

"Clarisse do you really think it's a good idea for me to meet your mother?"

"How typical! All you men are the same," she put on a mocking tone, "oh I can't meet your mother today, I have to play golf! Oh, I can't meet your mother tomorrow, I'm going fishing! All the same…"

She flicked through some brochures she had acquired earlier in the week and waited for him to reply.

"I just don't think she's going to like me! I met her once, or should I say had an encounter with her once where I bowed and she turned up her nose! She doesn't like me, Clarisse."

She slammed the brochures down on the table and shot him an evil glare, "At least she's making the effort to come all the way from France just to meet you."

"But I've heard she has a very set attitude towards lower class people, what if she has an ulterior motive for coming here? What if she's just coming here to push us apart and get you back into the upper class where you belong?"

"Then we'll deal with it," she said calmly, "nothing she can possibly say will tear us apart, am I right?"

"I sure hope so, because if you're not then on your own head be it!"

0000000

Later that day as Clarisse and Joseph lay contently on the couch watching the opera on TV, they heard a knock at the door, "That's her," Clarisse whispered, slowly removing herself from her husband's chest.

"Shall I open the door?" He asked.

"Do."

Joseph let out a groan and stretched out his arms before jumping up and walking over to the door. Suddenly he stopped and turned to his wife with a shocked expression on his face, "Oh god what do I call her? I can't call her mom!"

"Just address her formally, you remember my maiden name don't you? Now open the door."

He straightened up his jacket and tie, which Clarisse absolutely insisted he wear, then turned the knob of the door. To his surprise, a very flamboyantly dressed woman burst through with her arms wide open, heading in the direction of her daughter, "Clarisse, darling, I'm so glad to see you."

"Hello mother, you're looking well."

"I wish I could say the same for you," she said as she eyed Clarisse's growing tummy, "but I'm afraid you're not looking one hundred percent."

"I'm pregnant."

"I know, it was all over the news and the papers…" she voiced sadly, "how did they put it again? Ex-Queen Bumps Too Soon? Vulgar…which reminds me, where is this new husband of yours?"

Clarisse put her hands on her hips and stared at her in disgust, "The love of my life is standing right behind you. Mother, this is my husband, Joseph."

Swivelling around, she shrieked at the tall figure standing behind her and gasped, "This? This is your husband? I thought he was a butler."

"Mother, I told you we don't have butlers. Joseph and I are fending for ourselves," she said proudly.

"You marry this…man and he can't even afford a butler?"

"It's not that we can't afford it, it's that we want our privacy."

Clarisse's mother put a hand on her head and sighed, "I need a scotch on the rocks."

Finally Joseph decided to fake a smile and speak up, "May I take your coat?"

"Oh, is that something you commonly say to your employers?"

She threw her coat into his arms while he gave her an angry look, realising she did only come to spite him, "I'll get your drink, madam."

He slowly brushed past her and walked into the kitchen, slamming his fists down on the bench when he got there. Already he didn't like this woman, she made it quite clear that she felt the same way by ignoring him and treating him like the help. After pouring himself a drink and drinking it down fast he poured one for her in the same glass and walked back out, "Your drink, madam."

She turned around and eyed the glass suspiciously, "Excuse me, Mr…um…uh…"

"Joseph!"

"Like it matters…did I ask for my drink to be covered with saliva, or is that just something extra you decided to add?"

Clarisse stared at him half-shocked while he looked at the glass.

"Remove yourself from my sight and get me a clean glass!"

"Mother! Manners."

"My apologies. Please remove yourself from my sight and get me a clean glass."

He didn't wait for her to say the last words before he stormed out of the room again.

"He's very rude, isn't he?"

"Really, mother! This has gone too far! He tried to make you feel welcome, but you just treat him as if he's just another worker! I love this man and I won't have you staying in my house unless you behave yourself and accept him as the man I want to be with."

"Ha! You think I'm staying here? You've got to be joking! Rupert invited me to stay up at the palace."

"Oh? Don't you mean you dropped a thousand hints until he invited you himself?"

"If you want to put it that way. I've been staying there for the past week."

"And you only decided to visit now?"

"Well I wasn't going to come at all, I really only came to Genovia to see my legitimate grandchildren," she told her, emphasising the word 'legitimate', " but when the gossip up there became interesting, I decided to pay you a visit."

"Gossip?"

"Oh don't worry, darling, nothing out of the ordinary."

"If you say so."

Joseph came back into the room at that point and smiled, while handing her a clean, but empty glass, "Does madam approve?"

"Oh you're a clever one, aren't you? I'll soon wipe that smile off your face," she mumbled in a threatening tone before turning away.

Joseph once again walked out of the room, this time though, he walked into the bathroom to wash away the aggravation that had been placed atop his shoulders.

0000000

"Mother, you could have at least tried to get along with him, you made him feel unwanted in his own home."

"I don't like him, Clarisse, he's no good for you. You should have stayed with Rupert."

"Oh for the last time I don't love Rupert!"

"Love has nothing to do with it," she argued, taking her daughter's hands, "Listen to me…Rupert can support you, he can give you a better life. A life full of shining jewels, an endless wardrobe, a decent sized place to live. He's raising your children for heavens sake!"

"Don't lay the guilt trip on me, mother, there's nothing you can say to make me go back to him. You have to understand that as long as I love Joseph, and I do so very much, I will not think about any other man. Is that too hard for you to understand?"

"Yes it is! I pulled a lot of strings to make sure you ended up with a king and you go and blow it!"

"I never asked you to arrange my marriage for me. Was it your intention to make sure I was miserable for the rest of my life?"

"I just want to be able to sleep at night knowing my daughter isn't sleeping on the street or in a gutter somewhere."

"What makes you think I'm going to end up on the street?"

"Take a look at what you married, he's a peasant, a peasant with no decent income. Rupert on the other hand…"

"Ohhhh! Stop it! Just because your marriage isn't working out, it doesn't mean you have to meddle with mine. I am happily married and I have never been happy before, so can't you just accept Joseph for who he is?"

"I just want what's best for you, darling and I can assure you, he isn't."

"You don't even know him!"

"But I do know that he's poor, not the sort of man you were raised to be with. He doesn't have anything to give to you, not even a penny. Rupert…"

"Stop this! Joseph's already given me more than Rupert ever could."

"Name one thing."

"I'll name two things - undying love, a reason to get up in the morning."

"Clarisse you have to learn that there's more to life than love. The most important thing in the world is money."

"Maybe for you it is, but not for me."

"If that's the way you feel then so be it. Ruin your life! Break your poor mother's heart! Make me feel like a failure."

"That's not my intention. All I ask is for you to get along with the man I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with."

"Alright, you win, I shall talk to him. He and I will spend some time together tomorrow while you're at your doctor's appointment and I will try my best to respect his feelings. If all goes well I shall return to France and you will have my blessing."

"Thankyou, I'm glad to see you've changed your tune."

000000

Joseph wasn't quite sure he wanted to spend time with his mother-in-law, she obviously didn't approve of him and she didn't want him as part of her family. He wondered whether she was planning to kill him during their time together, he hoped that's not what she was planning. What would Clarisse do without him? And the baby? No time to think about that, he had to get ready.

"Clarisse, is this a suitable tie to wear?"

"No, mother despises red, she says it's the colour of the devil."

"Well then I'm surprised she doesn't wear it all the time."

"Very funny, dear," she said, giving him a half-playful, half-serious slap on the chest, "Try this blue tie, she likes blue."

Placing a kiss to his forehead, she left the room and went to fetch a pot of tea. Joseph stared at himself in the mirror, the tie wasn't right, blue wasn't a colour he cared very much for wearing, black on the other hand was. He selected one from the closet and tied it around his neck – this would be quite suitable.

He walked out to the kitchen where his wife was waiting patiently for him to finish dressing, "What do you think?"

She spat out her tea, "You can't wear a black tie! Mother will think you're being disrespectful to the dead!"

"How would that make me disrespectful to the dead?"

"I don't know, it's just her way of thinking. Wear the blue tie, please."

"I hate blue."

"Don't argue with me, young man."

Finally giving into her, he agreed to wear the blue tie, much to his displeasure.

When the clock struck ten, Joseph helped Clarisse into the car and drove her to the doctor's surgery. After kissing her on the cheek he went off to fetch her mother from the palace, however he drove very slowly.

When he reached the palace he was surprised to find the woman standing out the front looking at her watch. Joseph opened the car door for her and she hopped in after making a snide comment about his tardiness.

"Are you always this slow in your job? I'm amazed you haven't been fired."

"I'm a chef, Mrs. Howard, not a butler."

"An honest mistake."

"I'm sure."

Joseph started the car and drove out the gates and along the main road.

"So you cook the meals instead, isn't that like a butler?"

"For the last time, I am not a butler, I never was and I don't think I ever will be."

"You'd better not be! My Clarisse needs to be taken care of, she needs to have a husband with a job that brings in more than $10,000 a year."

"Is money all you care about?"

"I care for the well-being of my oldest daughter, money ensures that."

"It doesn't, a loving husband ensures that. We'll be happy as long as we have each other."

"And how long do you think that will be? Soon? I want to know when to send out the party invitations."

"Could you please at least try to be civil? You're going to end up losing your daughter if you keep acting this way."

"Not if all goes to plan and you lose her first."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I know something that just by telling you could easily break up your marriage."

Joseph paused for a moment and tried to concentrate on the road – what could she possibly know that could break up their marriage? Only one way to find out.

"What do you know?"

"So where are you taking me?"

"We're going to pick up Clarisse and then we're going to eat lunch at a restaurant in town. Now what do you know?"

"The scenery is lovely, isn't it?"

He slammed the breaks on, causing her to unintentionally jerk forward, "Tell me, what do you know?"

"Well as you know I've been staying up at the palace lately and a lot of gossip gets spread around. One particular piece of gossip has been brought up quite frequently."

"Which is?"

"Think back to a few weeks ago when Clarisse was last at the palace visiting my grandchildren."

"I'm thinking."

"Apparently she was seen leaving Rupert's suite wearing nothing but a robe – his robe."

Joseph stayed silent and waited for her to finish, wondering if what she was saying was the truth or not.

"Don't you get it? She slept with him."

"How do I know you're not lying in some attempt to get me away from her?"

"Don't take my word for it, ask the gardener who found her nightgown outside Rupert's window."

0000

Three days in the making! I decided to finish this chapter tonight (this morning now).

Yes, finally I am continuing this story. Terribly sorry for the wait. I tried to write it a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn't working out and I came up with a more interesting storyline. I had a hard time getting back into this story because I was so used the character of my Psycho-Clarisse in Joseph's Journal that I couldn't remember what this one was like. Anyway, R & R.


	2. Chapter 2

Joseph had been thinking a lot about what Clarisse's mother had said, could Clarisse have really had an affair? He stared suspiciously at her laughing face across the table and thought deeply to himself, remembering the last trip Clarisse made to the palace. She came back angry, angry because she thought he was having an affair, but soon changed her tone when he introduced her to the mysterious woman, aka his mother. But what was it that she said when she was packing her clothes? "Rupert and I are back together". She said that with such ease and sureness in her voice, perhaps it was true, perhaps she did spend the night with him in a fit of rage and confusion.

Joseph was snapped back into reality when Clarisse asked him if he was paying attention, he quickly lifted his chin up from where it had been so lazily lying on the table and replied, "Hmm."

She raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her water, he did the same and went back to his own world as she continued to speak. Looking at her now, he wondered if she was even capable of having an affair and if she did, wouldn't she have told him by now? Honesty is after all the most important thing when it comes to marriage or even a mere relationship.

He noticed Clarisse's mother was treating him slightly better than she was earlier on, but he decided it was fake and she was only doing it in hopes of getting in her daughter's good books.

As the lunch grew longer and longer, Joseph's patience began to wear thin, he had to know the truth, but how would he go about finding out? If he directly asked his wife and she hadn't done the deed, she might find reason to believe he doesn't trust her, or if she did do the deed, she could just lie about it and make him feel guilty because he wouldn't know if she was telling the truth or not. Of course, he could ask Rupert, but he might tell her he was enquiring, or he might say it's true and Joseph might not be able to control his anger towards him. Already he realised he was about to have a long night.

After they had driven her mother home, Joseph pulled out of the driveway and started speeding back towards home. Clarisse sensed he wasn't feeling well and turned to him, reassuringly covering his hand with hers, "You really were fussing over nothing, my darling, she seems to have taken a shine to you."

"Hmm," he growled, brushing off her hand and trying not to make eye-contact. She felt uneasy, "You weren't yourself this evening, very quiet, was it the wine?"

"Hmm," he groaned, still not making eye-contact with her.

She gave him a questioning glance, "Is something wrong?"

"Hmm."

A smile played on her lips thinking his lack of emotion was just a joke, "Would you like to tell me what it is?"

He fell silent, which she quickly took as a hint that he wasn't joking and was in a grumpy mood. The speedometer read 140 kmph, she noticed, "Joseph, it's only a 100k road, don't you think you should slow down before you get a fine?"

"Don't you ever shut up?"

His words were harsh, like a dagger through her heart, she sat in silence for a moment, hurt and confused, "Did I do something wrong?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"Tell you what?"

Joseph pretended to concentrate on the road, while his wife stared at him with a curious frown, "What should I be telling you?"

Up ahead, he noticed a "Slow to 60, roadwork" sign and decided to use it as a distraction, "Damn roadworks."

"What should I be telling you, Joseph? What did I do?"

For the first time during their journey, he faced her, "I don't know what you did or didn't do, that's the problem!"

"Is this about my mother?"

"No, it's not about your mother."

"Did she say something to you?"

Once again, Joseph used silence to answer her.

"She must have said something, you've been acting like this ever since you two picked me up this after-"

Suddenly he turned on the radio to drown out her voice, causing her confusion to grow. One of the road workers waved a stop sign and Joseph slammed his hands down on the wheel, angry and impatient. Clarisse caught his arm and tried to turn him to her, but he forcefully pulled away, "Joseph!"

She felt a lump form in her throat, 'why is he being so cold?' Her mother had that effect on people, the effect of turning warm people into ice. She was beginning to dread another two and a half hours of being alone with him in the car, and what about when they got home? She didn't want to have to deal with this attitude all night, especially when she had no idea what his problem was.

The worker who held up the sign moved out of the way, allowing Joseph to creep the car through and out onto normal road. Immediately he shoved the car into gear and slammed his foot down on the accelerator, he didn't leave much time before he switched to a higher gear. Soon enough, the car was going as fast as it could go and Clarisse found herself screaming for him to stop, but he didn't, he just kept driving. She quickly became terrified, realising he wasn't listening to her, and threw her hands over her face in a poor attempt to make it all go away, "Joseph, please stop, you're scaring me!"

He slammed the brakes on, which caused them both to be jerked forward and then jerked back into the seats. Clarisse, after fiddling with the doorhandle for a while, finally got it open and quickly exited the car. Joseph wound down the window and leaned out, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not getting into that car with you until you start behaving appropriately and stop driving like a lunatic!"

"Well that's not going to happen so I guess you can just walk home."

With that he wound the window back up and sped off in a puff of dirt, leaving her to stand on the side of the road. Her arms immediately dropped to her sides and she stared at the quickly fading back lights of the car. He'd be back, she knew he would, he wouldn't just leave his three-month pregnant wife out in the middle of nowhere! But that's exactly what he did. She sat in the dirt for a whole hour waiting for him to come back, but there was no sign of him or the car. It didn't take long for the tears to start falling, they had come immediately after he left, 'What's wrong with him? Why is he being so cold?'

Every time a car went by, she looked up in-case it was him, but it never was. She had no choice but to pick herself up off the ground and walk. But to where? The palace was closer, warmer and inviting, but she couldn't go there – her mother would have a field day if she found out her daughter's "perfect" husband threw her out of the car, especially since she's carrying his child, it would give her reason to mock him for the rest of his life. Home didn't have the same appeal tonight as it would any other, he would be there, angry and cold towards her. As bad as home sounded, it was the only place she could go.

Being pregnant often took it's toll, Clarisse noticed as she walked the deserted street and wondered how far home was, she couldn't walk as fast as usual, she couldn't walk for as long as usual and she couldn't stop crying as soon as usual. Her body was sore, as was her heart, she wondered exactly what she could have done to upset him. Two hours she had been walking that road, Joseph would be home by now, warm, snug and secure, she on the other hand was cold, sore and heartbroken.

Out of the many cars that passed by her, only three had stopped, but they were of no help: a couple of teenagers who pulled up on the side of the road giving her false hope, but then speeding off laughing, a recklessly driving old couple who almost ran her down in the process of moving to the side of the road, and what she noticed was a horny truck-driver only looking for one thing. Walking seemed like a safer option.

After hours of walking she collapsed out of sheer exhaustion, finding herself in a dream, a dream where she was running for something that kept getting further and further away. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach it, though she didn't know what it was. Suddenly she felt a bump and woke up, it was daytime and she soon realised she was in a moving car. Looking to the side of her, she recognised a man, her husband. He had finally come to get her. She still wasn't wide awake and her eyes were tired and sore from crying, yet she managed to read the clock, 6:43am, "You bastard."

He didn't look at her, he just concentrated on the road.

"You bastard, how could you just leave me there?"

When he didn't reply, she slapped his arm, causing the car to swerve slightly, "How could you?"

She slapped him again, this time across the face, "Well? I was out there all night in the cold, the least you could do is apologise, or at least tell me why you're acting so damn cold towards me! As far as I can see, I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Really…"

"I have a good mind to-"

"Hungry?" He said it with a cold tone, mainly just to shut her up.

She felt her stomach rumbling and eyed the bag beside her, "Now that you mention it, I haven't eaten in about twelve hours, I wonder why…"

Using his free hand, he picked up the bag and threw it into her lap. She moved her head down and looked inside, "Doughnuts and a coke? Hardly a nutricius breakfast. Don't you know I have to eat healthy? I am a pregnant woman!"

"Don't you know you're not supposed to cheat on your husband?" He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing…"

"No, you said something, now what was it? It sounded like eat…"

Joseph rolled his eyes as she started to guess what he said, "Meat…beat…street…seat…"

The frustration inside his head was growing, he wished she'd just shut up.

"Feet…heat…neat…seat…no I've already said that one…teat…wheat…"

"CHEAT! For god's sake, I said CHEAT!"

"Why would you say cheat?"

"I don't know, why would I use 'you' and 'cheat' in the same sentence? Oh, I'll add another word in, too, Rupert!"

Clarisse's jaw fell open at the realisation of what he was saying, "Oh god."

He gripped the wheel tighter and looked at her, "So it's true?"

Now it was her turn to be silent, she closed her eyes, turned her head away from him and simply nodded.

"Great," he mumbled as he pulled into their driveway, "Just great."

* * *

Sorry for the long update, but I'm not really into the princess diaries anymore. It could just be a phase, but I don't know. Something I forgot to mention in the first chapter is that this is a sequel and if you haven't read 'A Royal Scandal 2: The Beginning' you may not understand why she's pregnant or why they're living together.

Did anyone read/see the last chapter of 'Joseph's Journal' because I posted it and no-one reviewed. Hmm…

Anyway, please R & R.

Bye!


	3. Chapter 3

Joseph slammed on the brakes as he pulled up to the house, he was angry, he didn't even open the door for Clarisse after he got out of the car, he simply stormed into the house. She pondered going in after him, but wasn't quite prepared for a fight, it's not that she didn't have her defence ready, she was just too scared to look him in the eye. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she lay her head back on the seat and closed her eyes, he wouldn't want her now, he was probably already filing for a divorce. She wondered how he knew about her and Rupert, how could he know? Nobody but the two of them knew, could Rupert have told him in an attempt to get her back in his life? No, she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't do something like that. Her mother on the other hand would. 'Yes, it must have been her' Clarisse thought inside her head, she didn't approve of Joseph so she told him something that would drive him away. But how did she know about that night? Could Rupert have actually said something? She would have serious words with him later.

In the lounge, Joseph stood pacing the room waiting for her to come inside, he wondered if she ever planned to tell him about the affair, or if she planned to keep him in the dark about it forever. He couldn't trust her now, she had cheated on him and lied about it, she was no more trustworthy than a politician. As Joseph's forehead seemed to get sweatier and sweatier every time he walked from one side of the room to the other, he decided to go to the bathroom to splash his face with water. He took a long look at himself in the mirror, his eyes showed hurt, his face was red, strands of his dark hair fell into the sink. He was a mess already and he hadn't even started drinking. He walked back out into the lounge room to see if she had come in yet, but she hadn't. The front door was still wide open from when he'd stormed through it earlier, the car still parked where he left it, his wife leaning on the dashboard bawling her eyes out, clearly she was upset but he didn't feel like comforting her today. It was her fault she was crying, not his, he never did anything to hurt her.

Joseph sat on the couch and punched a cushion with his fist, it was better to relieve his frustration now than when she was in the room, after all, she was carrying his child. It would be fatal if he happened to push her or yell at her so loud she'd fall over. In his mind, Rupert's face appeared on one of the cushions, he'd liked the man very much up until now - now he was the enemy. His fists pounded the cushion so hard it tore open and feathers went flying everywhere, soon the lounge looked like it had been snowed in.

Eventually when night fell, Clarisse stepped out of the car and walked slowly to the door rubbing her eyes and looking about the room. She noticed his silhouette sitting on the couch in the dark, he appeared to be staring at the wall. Her feet froze, what was she to do? Walk up to him? Sit next to him? Or go straight to bed? She was confused, more confused than when she was deciding whether to run away with him or not. Yes, this was a much more difficult decision than that.

Quietly she took a step forward and then stopped, he didn't move, he didn't speak, he just sat where he was. He could sense her nervousness, her fear, her inability to read his thoughts. He sat waiting for her to say something, as she waited for him. Neither one wanted to be the first to speak, the first to start an argument.

Clarisse took another step in, softly closing the door behind her, she suddenly hoped he was asleep, that would buy her some time. But she knew the confrontation was inevitable. It was best to see if he was awake now so he could sleep on it after they've had the dreaded conversation.

Every step she took towards him seemed like a mile, yet he was only meters away, her fear grew as she neared him. Seating herself in an armchair, she stared at him, he was definitely awake, eyes glistening in the moonlight.

"Joseph…I'm so sorry."

His throat tightened, making it impossible for him to swallow without her noticing his discomfort.

"I'm so sorry," she cried, putting her head in her hands, waiting for him to sympathise with her, he didn't.

"I must explain to you. I know it won't fix anything, but I need you to hear me out."

He didn't dare look at her, instead, he kept his eyes focused on the moon shining brightly outside the window.

"When I arrived at the palace, I was propositioned, but I refused."

Joseph turned to her, wondering whether she was trying to change the story.

"Later I phoned you and you were being secretive, I became suspicious."

Pausing, she willed the tears away and wiped her face, then continued, "When I called and your mother picked up the phone I was upset, I thought you were having an affair. I was just so angry-"

"Which is exactly how I feel right now, but I don't have the urge to sleep with my ex."

Undeniably more tears welled in her eyes, "Please let me finish."

He turned away from her, not wanting to risk being urged to hold her at the sight of tears. Suddenly she had an idea, an idea so brilliant it would make him feel sorry for her, it would make him forgive her and actually be on her side.

Once again she opened her mouth, "I went to Rupert because I wanted a shoulder to cry on, instead I got more than I asked for. I told him not to do it, I told him to stop but he didn't listen."

"What? You mean he forced himself on you?"

"I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid. Afraid of what he might do to me, afraid of what you might do to him if you found out."

Joseph wasn't too sure whether to believe her or not, so he came up with a plan to see if she would tell him the truth, "Damn right you're going to be afraid of what I'm going to do to that sick bastard."

He stood up and grabbed his keys, then headed towards the door.

"NO! Joseph! Don't go after him! Please."

Joseph became suspicious as to why she was holding him back, "Clarisse, he hurt you and I want revenge!"

"Please, I don't want to be left alone here…reliving the memory."

He paused just as he was about to open the door, "Nope, I'm going to go kill him."

Guilt swept over her at the thought of lying to him, "No! At least…not tonight."

He looked into her eyes, searching for answers, but receiving fear, "I'll leave it to tomorrow, then I'll kill him."

"Joseph no!"

"Don't you want him to suffer for what he did to you?"

"I just don't want you to hurt him, he could have you locked up!"

"You could have him locked up!"

"Can we please drop it and go to bed? Sleep on it, for heaven's sake!"

"Fine, if you want to let him get away with it…then so be it."

Following him inside, Clarisse shivered at the thought of what she was doing, she had placed the blame entirely on Rupert. It was wrong to blame him, he may have encouraged her but she went to him of her own free will, she knew what she was there for. As she was thinking about all of this, she found herself bumping into something – Joseph.

"Clarisse, if Rupert did that to you, then why did you let him in our house? Why did you say you were getting back together with him? Why are you protecting him now? That doesn't seem like something a woman whose been raped would do."

The colour drained from her face – how would she explain this one? She hadn't fully thought her plan through, she just lied on the spot.

"He threatened me, he said if you were having an affair I had to come back as his wife and-"

"Have you been lying to me Clarisse?"

"No! Of course not!"

"I think you have and I'm going to find out for sure."

He walked quickly into the house and picked up the phone, he then dialled a number and held the mouthpiece to his lips, "The king please…Joseph…thankyou."

Eying her suspiciously, he waited for an answer.

"Joseph what are you doing?" Clarisse asked in shock and fear.

An answer came on the other end of the line, to which Joseph replied, "Your Majesty, I have a bone to pick with you…yes it's about Clarisse…did you force yourself on her? …I didn't think so…bye…"

He hung up and stared at her in the eyes, "You sad, pathetic person. How could you place the blame on him? According to him it was a joint effort."

"Joseph," she sobbed, "I swear I didn't-"

"That would explain why you said you were going to get back together with him, that would explain why you don't shriek every time you see him, that would explain why you tried to protect him and that would explain why you fucking lied to me twice! You're not supposed to lie to your husband, Clarisse, you're not supposed to cheat on him either."

A stream of tears made their way out of her eyes when he yelled at her, she held her stomach and sunk to the ground, "Rupert and I were still married at the time."

"And that's supposed to make it all better is it? Don't you get it? It's not about whether you were married to him or not, it's about you sleeping with him while we were together and then lying to me about it and then making up another lie and then lying about that! I don't trust you anymore. You're a sad, lying and selfish piece of work and you don't deserve to wear my name."

Joseph walked to the bedroom door and slammed it behind him, not caring how his wife was feeling. Never had she been so upset, the out of control hormones were partially to blame for that, but only partially. Lying didn't fix the situation as she hoped, it just made it worse, her relationship with Joseph was beyond repair, he had practically said he didn't want her as his wife and that she wasn't good enough for him. Never had she not been good enough for anyone.

Picking herself of the ground, she heard the phone ring and crawled over to it, "Hello" was all she could manage to say before Rupert started abusing her from the other end of the line. She dropped the phone and made her way to the bathroom, she needed to relax in a tub full of warm water, all this stress could not be good for the baby.

* * *

God time flies when you're on a roll. Review please! 


	4. Chapter 4

Neither Joseph, nor Clarisse had any sleep that night. How could they? Joseph's mind was plagued by the thought of his wife with another man and Clarisse couldn't stop thinking about the harsh words her husband had thrown at her. It was all her fault – at least she could admit that - it was her fault everything blew out of control, her fault she was losing her husband.

She lay tired and hurt in the spare room with her hands clasped over her stomach, she wished she could take back the past year. It had been filled with nothing but difficult decisions and heartbreak. She couldn't understand why she found Rupert so attractive that evening or why he never showed interest in her until she was taken away by another man. Clarisse hugged the pillow and cried, why was this year so difficult for her? Why wasn't she trained to absorb these new emotions?

Joseph tossed around for hours after he'd gone to bed. He was so angry, so pained and curious as to why his wife felt she had to go to another man just because she thought he was having an affair. She was most definitely wrong about that, Joseph hadn't even looked at another woman since he met Clarisse, she was his all. How could she possibly think he'd cheat on her? He would never do such a thing even if he wanted to, how could she not know that?

The clock struck three and yet each one was still wide awake, with everything that was going through their heads it was impossible to drift into the land of nod. They had to talk about this now.

Quietly Joseph closed the door behind him and sat on the chair at the end of Philippe's old bed, her uneven breathing indicated to him that she was awake.

Clarisse tensed when she first heard him come in, she didn't know what to expect from him, had he come to yell? To make up with her? She would stay silent until she knew for sure.

"Clarisse I have some things I'd like to ask you, things I must know. I'll never sleep again until I have answers."

After receiving the all clear, she wriggled her way into a sitting position and stared at him through the dark, wiping the tears from her eyes and stuttering as she spoke, "W-what?"

"Well, first I want to know if the reason you went to the palace was to see him?"

She shook her head, "No, definitely not."

"Second, why did you sleep with him?"

"I-I told you, I thought you were…"

Her tight throat prevented her from saying the rest of the sentence, but Joseph knew what she was going to say anyway.

"Thinking I was having an affair is not a reason."

Clarisse could feel her body shaking, talking to him wasn't helping her stress level, "I guess I felt rejected."

"You guess? You mean you don't know why you did it?"

"I don't know."

He watched her head fall into her hands, then spoke, "Is it even my child?"

Immediately her blood started boiling, that was too much. Standing up she put her hands on her hips and walked over to him, it was her turn to be angry now, "Is it your child? IS IT YOUR CHILD! How can you ask that? How can you have the GALL to ask me that!"

"Well you've lied about everything else, why not this?"

"Do you honestly think that I would be living in this place with you if it wasn't your child? Do you think I would have married you if it wasn't your child? Do you think I would have left everyone I love behind if it wasn't your child? NO! I never would have done any of those things if you hadn't seduced me, so don't you dare question me about whether it's your child or not!"

Before he had a chance to think over her words, she stormed out of the room. He sat there looking at the open door, listening to her fill up a glass of water.

Joseph pulled himself up and followed her to where she was standing in front of the sink. She dared not look at him, instead she looked out the window and sighed, "If you don't believe me, ask Rupert's physician. He's sterile."

Walking back to the spare room, she turned to him, "Any other accusations you want to throw at me?"

"Why did you lie?"

She shook her shoulders and dropped her hands, "I didn't want to lose you. Have I lost you, Joseph?"

His lip twitched, he didn't want to take her back after what she did, she needed to suffer for lying to him, "Perhaps one day there may be a chance to find me."

Clarisse faked a smile even though she was dying inside, she hadn't lost him completely, but it sounded to her as if they weren't going to get back together anytime soon.

* * *

After their conversation, Clarisse still couldn't sleep. She hated not having him beside her, it made her feel uncomfortable and the thought of them not being together again made it even harder to sleep. She lay awake thinking of what he had said, what was the use of her staying if he didn't plan on taking her back? She wondered whether she should stay or leave him, on one hand it would make life easier for her and the baby, on the other hand Joseph would never see his child, his creation. She rolled onto her side and stared at the blue wallpaper, the room used to be the boys' room when it was their holiday house. They would stay in there all day playing with their many toys while their parents enjoyed a stress free day sitting on the sofa or playing tennis together. Those were the good old days, Clarisse thought, the whole family together under the one roof. It gave her a sense of normality as opposed to a family where every member has their own wing and they only ever meet for breakfast.

Clarisse pondered whether or not she should get pink wallpaper put up incase the baby turned out to be female, but with her luck she just knew it would be another boy. Of course she wouldn't love it any less if it were male, but oh how she wished for a change. Ever since she was given her first doll she wanted a daughter of her own, but after trying for years and popping out nothing but boys, she had given up on the idea.

Joseph was the complete opposite of her, he never wanted kids. As a boy he knew having children would bring nothing but trouble, especially if they happened to turn out like him. Being tied down was one thing he didn't have on his mind, he couldn't cope being with the same woman, he needed variety. It wasn't until he met Clarisse that he realised he only felt that way because he hadn't met the right woman, and now that he'd found her he changed his tune. He actually looked forward to this meeting this baby, that was until his mother in law showed up. Everything went downhill when she arrived, now he dreaded the baby's arrival. He didn't have a clue how they would handle the situation, if he'd feel different about her, if he still didn't want to take her back. Most definitely he needed to think it through.

* * *

The next morning he woke to find her sitting at the breakfast table moving her fork around her plate of half-scrambled eggs, "Clarisse."

Looking up, she dropped her fork and awaited his next words.

He sat down and looked her in the eye. His voice was husky and she could detect a hint of sadness in it, "I've been thinking."

"What?"

"You know I'll always love you, right?"

Her throat tightened, causing her to swallow, "But?"

"But I can't forgive you. Not now, not yet."

Tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, ending his sentence.

"Clarisse, please don't cry."

Wiping her face, she turned away not wanting him to see her like this, "Clarisse, I believe you when you say that it's my child you're carrying and I know you don't want it to be illegitimate."

Hope was bought back to her, she embraced it thinking he might be willing to forget what she did instead of forgiving it, but hope was shattered when he spoke again, "I will stay until the baby is born and then I will leave. Don't worry about money, I'll send every spare cent I earn to support the two of you, all I ask in return is that you allow me visiting rights every so often."

As Clarisse listened to him speak she grew nauseous, her breathing stopped and she felt butterflies swarming around in her stomach. She got up and stumbled her way to the bathroom, pulling up the toilet seat and sticking her head in the bowl.

Still seated at the table, Joseph listened to her coughing up her lungs wondering whether it was a sad tactic she was using to make him feel sorry for her. In his mind he felt he was doing the right thing by leaving, but in his heart he felt he owed it to her to stay. After all, she did leave her husband and kids to be with him.

Sighing, he sat back in the chair and waited for her to come back out, she did so, three minutes later.

"Are you alright?"

"How can you ask me that? You're planning to leave me and you ask me how I'm feeling? Well I think I can honestly say I'm feeling fine. Fine and dandy!"

"Clarisse…"

"Don't you think it would be best for our child to grow up with a mother and a father?"

"Don't talk to me about morals, you left your sons."

"And I'm beginning to wish I hadn't."

"You're saying I'm a mistake?"

She shook her shoulders, "I'm saying that things would have been easier for me if we'd never met."

"Easier? You want things easier? If you don't like the real world, my dear, then I suppose you're right. For your sake and for your sake only, we should never have met. For my sake, however, I'm glad we did. I learnt what real love was, I learnt how it feels to be the one betrayed for a change. So I'm glad we met, even if you're not."

Trying to control her tears, Clarisse watched him walk out of the room finding it hard to believe their marriage was already ending. She hadn't meant for it to come out like that. The truth was that she too was glad she met him, meeting him was the best and most exciting thing that ever happened to her. If only he knew how much she needed him, then he'd stay for good.

* * *

Sorry for the slow update. I've avoided doing my mathswork tonight just so I could finish this chapter which took forever to write. Enjoy! R & R. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Read** this please: I know very little about childbirth, so go along with it.

* * *

6 months later.

As promised, Joseph stayed with Clarisse for the duration of her pregnancy, he did everything for her. He cooked, cleaned and made sure she was comfortable, while at the same time earning a decent income. Clarisse had everything she needed, except the one thing she desired, love.

Joseph hadn't agreed to forgive her for cheating on him, which surprised Clarisse, as she had expected him to come crawling back to her within a week, but he didn't. So they became friends. Good friends who just happened to be married and expecting a baby.

Clarisse was annoyed that the baby was taking its sweet time leaving her body, it was already a week late and would have to come out soon whether it was ready to or not.

As she was stroking her stomach one night while watching the television, Joseph made a shock announcement, "I've rented a house."

She sat bolt upright in her chair across the lounge and stared at him, "A house?"

"Mmm. I have a photo of it."

He got up and walked over to the table, "Here it is."

Handing it to her, he ran a hand over his head and sat back down. She took it and observed the run down old dump he'd selected to live in, "Joseph this is a-"

"Not exactly the Genovian Palace, but it'll do."

"It's a dump! You can't live there!"

"I've inspected the inside, it's not as bad as the out. Could use a coat of paint though."

"I won't let you live there, Joseph, you can't."

"Clarisse, it's cheap. Small and cheap."

"Joseph I've told you before, you don't need to worry about money. If you or I ever run out, I can just ask Rupert or my mother."

"But I don't want you to. I want to support you myself. Even if it means I'm living in poverty. I'll feel useless if I don't provide for my own child."

"Then stay here and do it."

"Please let's not argue about this."

"I'm not arguing, I'm just saying I don't want you living in a dump."

"Look, don't worry Clarisse, I'll be fine. I've woken up in worse places."

Clarisse returned her gaze to the TV, but not her attention. Her thoughts were of Joseph and the place he had decided to take refuge. She couldn't have him living in that place, what would everyone think? The press would have a field day, not to mention her mother. Clarisse would be portrayed as a mean woman who kicked her own husband out of the house. Every lie would be created with ease and injustice, she had to think of a way to make him stay.

"Clarisse if you don't mind, I would like to start the renovations tomorrow. Nothing major, just a coat of paint and some new carpets. I want to have it ready for when I move in. You'll be alright here won't you?"

When she didn't say anything, he said her name, "Clarisse?"

Snapping out of her daze, she turned to him, "Actually I would rather you stay here. As you know, I'm already a week late and this thing could pop out at any given moment."

"It's just for a few hours. I'm sure you'll be alright by yourself. Or if not, I could ask my mother to come and look after you."

Rolling her eyes, she looked away from him, "Joseph I really don't think it's a good idea for you to move out."

"Not this again."

"Just listen to me. I don't want to have to raise our child on my own. I've never raised a child before, I wouldn't know what to do."

"What are you talking about? You've had kids."

"They were raised by nannies the minute they left the womb. I didn't even get to experience breast-feeding let alone anything else. Do you realise how selfish you're being? You can't just send money every now and then and think it's alright. I don't care about money, I just want our child to grow up with a mother and a father. So for our baby's sake, not mine, it's best you stay."

He put a hand to his forehead, "I'm sorry Clarisse, but I can't stand beside you day by day in a sham marriage pretending everything is alright because it isn't. I want you to understand that I do love you, I just don't trust you."

Once again he broke her heart, she immediately told herself not to cry or dwell on it, but her mind wouldn't listen. Tears began falling out of her eyes and she couldn't help but let out a sob. She was truly sorry for what she did but he couldn't understand that, it's as if he wanted to hate her. In her mind she knew that if he was the one to have cheated on her she wouldn't have taken it as well as he did. She would have screamed at him and made him move out straight away and never talk to him again. Yes, in her mind he handled the situation well.

Joseph noticed her crying, but did nothing. He really didn't want to leave her alone to raise the child by herself, but he knew she would find some way to cope, she always had.

He continued watching the television until he looked over to Clarisse again. Her hands were on her stomach, Joseph looked at her curiously, "What is it?"

"The baby's kicking."

He smiled, "Looks like he's going to be a football star."

"SHE is going to be a ballerina. Anyway, why do you care? It's not as if you're going to be around to witness it."

"Clarisse…I'll only be less than an hour away."

She continued touching her stomach, then got up and sat down next to him, "Put your hand here."

She held his hand and placed it on her naval, "She's saying hello."

"Hello Joseph II."

Clarisse laughed slightly, "Her name is Louise…for the moment anyway. I'm not sure about it though."

"You've already picked out a name?"

She nodded her head, "I picked it last week."

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?"

"I don't, I just want it to be."

Joseph moved his hand to the side of her stomach and felt his child press up against it, "How does it feel to have another person living inside of you?"

He looked into her eyes and listened to her response, "It's annoying, to tell the truth. I have to go to the toilet every five minutes, I have to eat more, gain weight-"

"That's not what I meant."

"I know. It's actually quite reassuring. It's nice to know I'm not alone."

Clarisse noticed Joseph's hand had moved from her stomach to her face, "You're not alone."

His lips were so close to hers she could almost taste them, which is exactly what she tried to do, only to have him pull away and excuse himself. He quickly left the room while she hung her head.

That night Clarisse found herself in an extreme amount of agony, her hormones were getting the better of her and she longed to have her husband with her. She wanted to hold him, kiss him, feel him between her legs. Nights like these had been interrupting her sleep ever since she entered her third trimester, she wanted him very badly, but he didn't feel the same, he had his pride and knew he couldn't comfort her in the way she wanted to be comforted.

He lay awake as well looking out the window wondering where it all went wrong. He longed to be by her side, but he couldn't let her know that, she might take advantage. He knew their time together was drawing to an end, but he knew everything would work out in the end. He hoped it would.

* * *

The next day…

Despite Clarisse's wishes, Joseph had gone to what she called, "The old dump", in order to paint it, but later discovered he really should have stayed home with her.

It was late in the afternoon when he got a call from the midwife who helped deliver Pierre and Philippe, she'd been trying to get him on the phone for hours, but his music was up so loud he didn't hear it ring. When he eventually did stop for a lunchbreak, he turned off the music and answered the phone when it rang again. The midwife informed Joseph that he was about to become a father and he immediately dropped the phone and ran out to the car.

Meanwhile, Clarisse lay sweating in the delivery room waiting for him to arrive for support. She'd been there for well over six hours and felt the baby was going to drop out at any second. She wished Joseph was beside her, she wanted him there to offer support through the painful torment, to hold her hand during the final push, to witness his first child coming into the world and perhaps afterwards she could ask for a kiss. She had been craving his lips for months, she hoped that if it happened it would end their friendship and rekindle their love.

Another hour passed and she found herself fully dilated and ready to get the baby out of there. She thought back to when she gave birth to her first child, it took almost a whole day to deliver her oldest son and here she was now, two children later and the labour had so far lasted considerably less than the previous two. Clarisse had to be happy about that, she knew the child would be out soon enough and she would be able to meet the new addition.

It would be a happy moment for her if Joseph got there in time. It should have only taken forty minutes for him to get to the hospital from his house in Pine Creek, yet it had taken an hour so far, she wished he'd get there soon.

Not so far from the hospital…

Joseph sat angrily behind the wheel of his car waiting for the traffic to start moving again. The radio said a truck had overturned and was blocking the main road into town, as well as the route to the hospital. Clarisse would be wondering what happened to him and if he was alright. He decided he couldn't leave her wondering any further and abruptly exited the car. His faith rested in his feet at the moment he started running, he was determined to get to his wife and to meet his new child. Joseph knew it wouldn't take any longer than half an hour to get there on foot, especially since he was running as fast as his legs could carry him. In his mind all he wanted to do was be there to welcome his baby into the world, he didn't care how much physical strength was needed to do so.

Clarisse lay on her side clutching a midwife's arm and screaming, "Where is he? I'll kill him!"

The midwife was used to hearing abusive tones, so she just looked at her patient and calmly told her he was probably making his way up from the lobby. Clarisse mentally told the baby to wait until he arrived before it came out, but the baby didn't seem to understand.

"Alright we're ready for you to start pushing now," said one of the midwives.

"But he's not here yet!"

"Who's not here?" Joseph asked as he burst through the door, out of breath.

Clarisse's face lit right up, "Joseph!"

"I'm here."

"Thank god."

She put her hand around the back of his head and tried to draw him in to kiss her, but he was pulled back and told that his clothing wasn't sufficient and that he'd need to change. Clarisse protested as Joseph was led over to another corner of the room and draped in green material. She took a moment from the pain she was going through to admire her husband. She had to admit he looked good in green.

When he rushed back over he took her hand and smiled at her, she then felt safe.

Half an hour later…

Clarisse had spent the whole time digging her sharp nails into Joseph's hand, so much so that it drew blood, but he knew it was nothing compare to the pain she was going through. He helped her through the rest of the birth and she was grateful for him being there, but annoyed that he hadn't come sooner.

"Alright we're going to need one last big push."

With all her might, Clarisse pushed as hard as she could and heard the little screams of her newborn baby.

"Congratulations, it's a girl."

Her smile grew wider as the baby was wrapped in a blanket and handed to her, "I told you Joseph! Didn't I tell you she was going to be a girl?"

He nodded and kissed the top of her head, "I'm so proud of you."

Looking up at him, she noticed he was leaning in for another kiss, but not for her, for the baby. Already Clarisse felt jealous of her daughter, she was getting more attention than she was.

"Beautiful, isn't she? Just like her mother," Joseph said reassuringly.

"Time for the baby's bath. Does she have a name yet?"

"No," they replied in unison.

"Alright then, I'll have her back to you as soon as possible."

Everybody exited the room except for the happy couple and a doctor who wanted to examine Clarisse.

Joseph hadn't stopped smiling since he got to the hospital, he was so happy to become a father, "A daughter, Clarisse, we have a daughter."

"I know," she smiled, half-heartedly, "What shall we name her?"

"Well I think you should name her since you're the one who's going to spending the most time with her."

Her heart sunk again. So he really wasn't going to stick around, she thought there was a possibility, but no, he was leaving her for sure.

"I have a list of names in mind."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Perhaps when I've had a nice rest I will. I'm very tired, would you mind?" She indicated for the door.

"Of course. I should leave you to it."

He kissed her forehead once more and left the room, leaving her with another, "I'm very proud of you."

Tears immediately fell from her eyes when he left, some father he was going to be.

* * *

I wanted to skip ahead cos I was dead bored with the story and wanted to move onto what I've had planned for it before I started writing it. I was dead bored writing this chapter cos I wanted to play my gamecube instead and write the next chapter of Joseph's Journal. I thought this one could use some updating though, so I updated it. It shall be more exciting in the next chapters. It's not finished yet. Still about 10 chapters left to write.

R&R.


	6. Chapter 6

Clarisse awoke to the sound of her newborn daughter being wheeled into the room. Her eyes fluttered open immediately and fixated themselves on the tiny bundle, she smiled as the nurse placed the child in her arms.

"Would you like to try breastfeeding?"

Clarisse smiled, joyous at the opportunity to do so. Never before had she been allowed to naturally feed a child, when the boys were born they were immediately passed off to nannies. But now she had the opportunity to feed her daughter the natural way.

"Of course I'd love to try."

Clarisse unbuttoned part of her nightgown and tried to latch the baby onto her nipple, it wouldn't take hold. The nurse attempted to help her feed the child, but it refused to be breastfed, another disappointment for Clarisse. Hanging her head, she almost let out a tear, feeding a child didn't look like rocket science, so why couldn't she do it?

Joseph entered without her knowledge and discreetly dismissed the nurse. He then walked over to the bed and stood behind his wife.

"She won't latch on, nurse, all she's doing is crying."

"Perhaps you should try the other side."

His voice startled her, causing her to jump and look up, "Joseph, I didn't know you were here."

"I wasn't, I just got here. I had to collect my car from the impoundetorium. The police told me it's an offence to leave your automobile unsupervised in heavy traffic."

She smiled and mentally wished he would bend down and lock lips with her. Joseph seated himself in an armchair beside the bed and watched her attempt to breastfeed again.

"Have we come to a decision on the name yet?"

"No," she replied softly.

"I was thinking Annabel."

She shook her head, "No."

"Julia?"

"No."

He stopped and thought for a minute, "Didn't you want to call her Louise?"

"Not anymore, I like Jennifer now."

"Jennifer? Well I suppose it's…decent."

"You don't approve."

"Not really."

"You think you can do better?"

"Yes I do, actually. Melissa?"

Clarisse cringed at the name, "Let's not discuss it now, our opinions obviously differ greatly."

Joseph leant back in his chair and continued staring at his wife's breast to see if the baby had taken the bait, "She's just not into it, is she?"

Shaking her head Clarisse replied, "No she's not. What's wrong with her, Joseph? I've wanted to do this ever since I could remember. Now that I have the chance to, she won't accept."

"Perhaps she just doesn't want to be breastfed."

"But I want her to, it's my final chance to raise a normal child. Do you think she doesn't like me?"

"I'm sure she does."

Clarisse tried once more to feed the baby by herself, but gave up when she was rejected again, "This isn't working."

"Do you mind if I hold her?"

"Of course not, here."

The tiny bundle was placed into her father's arms, he smiled immediately and studied his daughter. The first thing he noticed was her nose, it was so much like her mothers. Her hair, however, was much like his, Clarisse stated.

"Serena," Joseph whispered.

Clarisse raised her eyebrows and nodded her approval, "I like it."

"Oh good, we agree on something."

The two smiled at each other and returned their gazes to 'Serena'. Joseph's mind was filled with happy thoughts of the bundle in his arms, he never dreamed he'd ever become a father, or at least be happy about it, but he'd changed dramatically over the past five years and now loved the idea. His heart filled with joy at the sight of his creation, she was truly a perfect daughter.

Clarisse's smile gradually faded from her face as she watched Joseph hold their daughter, she was thinking about the future – the future he wouldn't be much a part of. How she wished he would reconsider and spend the rest of his life with her, she wanted him back so badly.

"Have you informed your mother yet?" She asked out of curiosity.

"I called her earlier while you were sleeping, she should be here tomorrow morning."

"Good. I can't wait to see her, it's been so long."

"Have you informed your mother?"

"No, but I'm sure the media did. Have you seen the news? They keep replaying the same footage of me getting out of the car and being wheeled into the hospital over and over again. It's quite annoying, but not as bad as when I had Pierre. We couldn't even get through to the door because there were so many photographers in the way. I thought I'd end up giving birth on the pavement."

She shuffled the pillows behind her and tried to get comfortable, "It's a good thing we had guards back then."

"You still do."

"What?"

"There's two posted outside the door."

"Really?"

"Yes, they've been there since last night."

"Rupert's doing, I bet," she smiled, making Joseph feel a little inadequate, "He always makes sure I'm being taken care of when-"

She saw the sad look on his face and decided to stop talking about her ex-husband, "Sorry."

Silence quickly flooded the room as the two sat thinking about each other, until a familiar face popped through the door, "Clarisse, darling!"

It was her mother, dressed in a brightly coloured pink jacket and matching pink pants.

"What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear to you I never wanted to speak to you again."

"Yes well I'm not here to speak to you, I'm here to see my new illegitimate granddaughter."

"She's not illegitimate!"

Clarisse's mother walked over to Joseph and leant over his shoulder to observe the child, "Oh she's adorable, I just want to take her home with me right now."

"Joseph get her away from the baby!"

"Oh tush, Clarisse, I was only joking…although I wouldn't mind if you two came to stay with me."

Clarisse rolled her eyes, "Never again will I live with you, mother."

"Does she have a name?"

"Serena for the moment," Joseph stated.

"Serena? Serena? What sort of name is that?"

"A good one," Clarisse answered.

"Oh no, no, no, my dear. Her name is Lillian."

"How dare you come in here and think you have the rights to name MY child. Leave now!"

"Lillian, I like it," Joseph smiled.

"Don't tell me you agree with her, Joseph?"

"I do. Lilly…it's cute."

Clarisse rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Cute indeed…"

* * *

Later that night after Joseph left for home, Clarisse found herself wide awake thinking about him. He was going to leave, to live in a dump, supporting her only with money. She didn't want him to leave, she wanted him to be a father to her child, to be there for her. Joseph seemed to be turning into what she thought of as Rupert. He was hardly around for his children, either tied up with work or tied up with women. She had to be grateful that he at least made an appearance at birthdays, at Christmas and at the births of his two sons. He wasn't a bad man in the slightest and he always treated her with respect, he just wasn't around as much as a father/husband should be. Now Joseph was turning into him, moving into his own place, watching his child from afar. 

'_Well, at least he's staying for another week…that'll give me some time to win him back,' _she thought, _'He can't hold a grudge forever.' _

Meanwhile in another part of the country…

"I want you back," Joseph mumbled to nobody in particular, "Ah who am I kidding, I can't just come out and say something like that. Clarisse, I forgive you. No, definitely cannot say that. Clarisse I want to be there for the baby…I love you."

He'd been in bed talking to himself for well over an hour because he found it difficult to sleep. He kept tossing and turning so much that the sheets had tightly wrapped themselves around his waist and the doona had fallen to the floor. There wasn't a great chance of falling asleep when he had her on his mind – there never was. He'd lay awake in bed many nights thinking of her, what she was thinking or dreaming about. Lately he'd been thinking of his decision to move out, wondering whether it was the best thing to do, he knew in his heart it wasn't and had already started regretting it. How would he cope without his wife by his side, or his daughter? The thought of being away from them was really straining his mind.

* * *

Clarisse awoke at ten o' clock the next morning to find her former husband leaning over her and smiling. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at him, "Rupert? What are you doing here?" 

"I came to see you."

Sitting up, but still in dream-mode, she smiled, "You had time to come and see me?"

"Actually I only have about fifteen minutes, I'm having lunch with that guy from that place…you know the one I'm talking about, he went to college with you…"

"The prime minister?" She laughed.

"That's the one."

Rupert looked to the side of him, "Is this her?"

Clarisse nodded.

"She's beautiful. Old enough to start dating yet?"

Her eyes widened, "Rupert!"

"I'm kidding. What's her name?"

"Either Serena or Lillian."

"You haven't decided?"

"Well really it's whichever one we decide we like best. It's a hard thing to name a child."

"I never found it hard."

"That's because I put twelve of my favourite names into a hat and asked you to pick one out!"

"True," he smiled.

Rupert sat on the bed and looked her in the eye, taking her hand in his, "I miss you. You should come back to me, Clarisse, I can take care of you."

"My mother's been in your ear," she bluntly stated.

"No, I do have my own mind, you know."

"Well I'm grateful to you for your offer then, but no."

"Give me one good reason?"

"I'm married!"

"That's a good reason. Can I kiss you?"

"What!"

"Just once, I want to kiss you. I have the urge to do so."

"Why?"

"I just do. Please?"

"One kiss."

Suddenly he leaned towards her and did something she didn't expect to do – give her a peck on the cheek.

"Is that all?"

"You were expecting more?"

He leaned forward again and started nuzzling her neck, she giggled and brushed him away, "Rupert stop."

Pulling back he looked at her again and laughed, "These are the times I miss."

"I know, but I'm not coming back to you. I'm still madly in love with Joseph despite how he probably feels about me."

"Well can't blame a guy for trying."

"I do appreciate you caring about me."

She started massaging his hand with hers, he felt quite warm and tender, like the caring, loving husband she always wanted him to be.

Neither one of them noticed Joseph and his mother enter the room, nor did they notice the annoyed expression on Joseph's face. Falsely clearing his throat, Joseph held his mother's hand and walked over to the two. When Clarisse discovered they were in the room, she immediately dropped Rupert's hand and he stood up.

Clarisse put on a shocked smile, "Joseph, Josie. When did you two get here?"

"Just a second ago," Josie announced.

"Oh. I trust you've come to see your granddaughter?"

"I can't wait. Is that her?" She pointed to the cradle.

"Yes."

"Oh!" She screamed in excitement as she walked over, "She's absolutely adorable! Oh I just want to take her home and hug her and squeeze her to death."

Clarisse became worried, "Joseph get your mother away from her!"

* * *

10 minutes later… 

Rupert had left the room claiming his fifteen minutes were up. They were, but he decided to postpone his lunch momentarily to have a chat with the woman he had become infatuated with. He waited only five minutes for her to come out, then he grabbed her arm and took his chance to speak with her.

"Why won't you return my calls? I call you every weekend and it's always the same thing, 'Hello this is Josephine Vellada, I'm not in right now to take your call. Please leave a message after the beep'."

"I keep telling you, what we had was a fling. Please release me from your weak grip."

"I mean nothing to you?"

"You're a womaniser."

"I want you."

"You only want women who don't want you, then when you get them, you treat them like you would any other."

"That's not true."

"It is and you know it."

Nodding his head, he realised he didn't stand a chance with her and walked off to travel to his luncheon.

Meanwhile in room 402…

"We weren't doing anything, Joseph, we were just holding hands, which by the way, is more than I ever get from you."

He turned away, "Well I'm sorry I don't trust you enough to touch you."

Crossing her arms, she decided to end the conversation there. Joseph looked at her worriedly, she seemed upset about something.

"What time are you coming to pick my up on Friday?"

"Three. Is that fine with you?"

"No, I think you can do better than that. I want you here at seven in the morning. I want to avoid the photographers. We'll tell them we're leaving at three, but we'll actually leave before they even get in their cars to drive here."

"Are you aware that my shift at the restaurant starts at eight and it will take at least an hour to get back from the hospital, then another half hour to get to work?"

"You're not going to work the day your baby comes back from the hospital, are you? The one I carried around for nine and a bit months, then in a session of turmoil, squeezed out of my tiny body. No, you're taking the day off! I'm more important than your stupid job."

"I've already taken too much time off to visit you, I can't take any more time off."

Clarisse's eyes narrowed down on him, "You really are turning into him aren't you?"

"Who?"

"Rupert. Being unable to give up one day to do something of extreme importance. And another thing-"

"I'll pick you up at seven o'clock on Friday," he sneered, not wanting to be referred to as a clone of her ex-husband, "Is there anything you want me to bring? Food?"

"No thankyou, just yourself will be quite sufficient."

"Right I'll see you there then."

Joseph raised himself from the chair he was sitting in and looked at his daughter once more before turning to exit the room. He wondered what had set off his wife's sour mood, perhaps she didn't get any sleep, or she sat on a tack or something. Joseph didn't know, she hardly ever told him what was going on in her mind.

"Stupid woman," he grumbled as he walked down the hall to go home.

* * *

God it takes me so long to write chapters these days. I'm thinking of writing 10 more and then calling it quits. 

By the way, does anyone want to give better name suggestions for this child? R & R.


	7. Chapter 7

_Since it's been so long since I updated, you may want to read the last few chapters again to refresh your memory.

* * *

_

Friday was to be a special day for Joseph, he was going to bring Clarisse and his newborn daughter home from the hospital, he was going to tell Clarisse that he'd been thinking about her more than he could bare and was hoping for a reconciliation. He was going to tell her he still loved her and forgave her for sleeping with her ex-husband. Yes, it was going to be a special day for Joseph and it was up until he arrived at the hospital…

The first thing he noticed was the bed, it was bare as if it hadn't been slept in for days. The next thing he noticed was the empty cupboard, her things were gone, as were she and the baby, there was not a speck of life to be found.

He was confused.

Clarisse had asked, no, told him to pick her up at 7am sharp, but it was 6:50 and she was nowhere to be seen. He knew she wouldn't have left on her own without telling him, but then where was she and why?

Turning towards the door, he noticed a woman with a baby being wheeled into the room, he immediately thought it was Clarisse, but when he saw that the woman had dark skin, he knew he was wrong.

The midwife looked at him suspiciously, "Excuse me, what are you doing in here?"

Joseph scratched the top of his head and searched around the room, "I'm looking for my wife, am I in the wrong room?"

"This is room 402, what room is your wife staying in?"

"Room 402, this one."

"Well I'm sorry, sir, but it can't be this room, it's occupied."

"Then where the hell is she? She's supposed to be here."

"Please sir, we're in a hospital, don't use such inappropriate language."

Running his hand over his head again, Joseph became frantic, "I don't understand it, she was here just yesterday?"

The midwife looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Oh are you Mr. Vellada?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well her maj- your wife is no longer with us, she checked out about an hour ago. Now will you please leave and let Mrs. Brown have her rest? She just gave birth, you know."

Joseph apologized and backed out of the room, he knew Clarisse enough to know that she had run off, what he didn't know was where she'd gone, how she'd got there, or why she'd left. She didn't say a word.

* * *

Clarisse sat in an unfamiliar part of town attempting to silence the tiny bundle in her arms, she'd done nothing but scream and carry on ever since they left the hospital. 

"Please stop crying, baby, please."

She attempted to feed the little girl, but just like all the other times she'd tried to naturally feed her, she simply wouldn't latch on, "If you don't drink you're just going to get even more upset. Please just accept my milk, what's wrong with it?"

Again, Clarisse attempted to attach the baby to her breast, but instead of drinking it, she screamed louder, causing tears to spill out of Clarisse's eyes. She felt so useless, so unneeded. Laying the child down in the pram, she wiped her face, she didn't know how to care for a child, she'd never had to before. When she was queen it was obligatory for her to give birth to children, not to raise them.

It became evident to Clarisse that her plan was not running along smoothly. The idea was that she would escape to a secluded part of the country with Serena to avoid having to face awkward situations with Joseph if by chance he came to visit, it would just make living without him more unbearable. She didn't want him to have any part of their child's life if he didn't want the marriage to go with it. Clarisse knew in her heart that he still cared for her, but the chance of him admitting it was slim to nil, therefore she would have to move on. She'd thought it over the whole week she was in the hospital and decided that it was best if they just leave. Be that as it may, Serena was quickly becoming too much for her mother to handle, she never stopped crying, she never ate, she slept rarely and Clarisse didn't have a clue what was wrong with her. It was at that stage a new plan was to come into effect.

"You want your daddy, don't you?" Clarisse asked, holding up the screaming child, "You love him more than me, it's obvious."

Serena continued to cry her lungs out, Clarisse held her and rubbed her back on a quest for silence.

"I've been selfish in thinking I could raise you by myself, I don't know the first thing about parenting."

Clarisse's voice was now crackly, "He knows how to calm you, I don't. It's obvious who you're better off with."

Letting out her withheld emotion, she cried and put Serena back into the pram, she then stood up and walked over to the telephone booth. Dialling the number she held the receiver to her ear and waited for an answer, "Rupert, I need your help now more than ever…"

* * *

Joseph had spent the whole day looking for Clarisse and Serena, he'd searched practically half the country for them, but to no avail. He wondered why on earth she had run off. He called everyone she knew, but nobody had any idea where she was, except Rupert. He told Joseph he knew where Clarisse was and what was going on, but was sworn to secrecy and couldn't tell a soul, making Joseph hate him even more than he already did. After he'd made the last frustrating phone call, he fell onto the couch and went into deep thought, so deep that he didn't hear the limousine pull up outside. 

The specially selected driver opened the door for the former queen, who stepped onto the gravel with a baby in her arms. Careful not to make a sound, she carried her sleeping daughter to the front of the house and stared at her lovingly. She looked so peaceful sleeping in her arms, Clarisse wanted to remember her just like that. Kissing her forehead, she gently placed her at the foot of the door and touched her tiny nose, "I'll miss you, my darling."

Taking one last look at the pink bundle she turned her head and wiped a tear from her eye, she then picked up a large rock and climbed into the limo. The rock was thrown at the door of the house as the limo started to pull away and Clarisse watched as Joseph came out to investigate. He saw the baby, the moving car, and the two eyes staring at him through from the window, it didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on. As he locked eyes with Clarisse, his heart began to break and his legs stiffened. He wanted to run after her, to tell her the things he wanted to say, but his legs wouldn't allow him to move, he was immobilized.

Joseph remained glued to the spot long after the eye contact was broken and the car was out of sight, it was the last time he and Clarisse would see each other for a very long time.

* * *

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I updated and I know it's short and doesn't make any sense to you and seems like it's been skipped ahead a chapter, but it hasn't. I'm so glad to have finally gotten this out of the way because now I can finally move on to the next part of the story, which I promise will be more exciting. R & R please! 


	8. Chapter 8

5 years later…

Joseph sat at the table watching his daughter peel the skins off her sliced tomatoes and drop them into a carefully placed bowl beside her. She pushed the bowl away and started eating the remains of the tomatoes. Her father never understood the dislike she had for tomato skins, come to think of it, he didn't understand a lot of things about her. She was born a healthy, normal child, however after she turned two, she struck him as a little strange, a little different.

Unlike most young girls, Serena didn't like interacting with other people or spending time outside, instead she would spend most of her time inside reading books or watching the television. She didn't have any interest in sports or riding ponies like all the other girls her age, all she wanted to do was spend a quiet day at home thinking nobody in the world existed but her.

Her strict diet allowed her only to eat happy coloured foods like yellow bananas, red apples, orange carrots and pink candy pieces. Green foods were always considered scary or evil, the same with brown foods like steak. Burnt food is entirely out of the question, so much so that if she sees it, she screams.

From an early age, Joseph could see that his daughter was not normal, he seemed to blame himself for the way she turned out, but he knew the real reason for her condition was because she grew up without a mother.

It took Joseph a year to realise Clarisse wasn't going to come back and another year to get over her. When Serena was three he started a new relationship with a woman he met at the swimming pool who was also a single parent, but by then Serena had a mind of her own and wouldn't allow anyone else to come into their lives and although Joseph sent her to a counsellor in attempts to set her mind straight, it soon became apparent that the girl was too set in her ways.

At four years old he tried to bring another woman into the household, but when he introduced her as a potential new mother, Serena was far from happy and wouldn't even leave her room if she knew the woman was in the house.

Now was different though, now everything had changed.

"The lady next door is coming over for dinner, Pumpkin, will you be eating with us or are you going to sit on your special little table?"

Serena looked up from her tomatoes and stared curiously at her father, "Which lady is that? There are two ladies next door to us, Mrs. Winterbourne in number 6 and Ms. Sage in number 8."

"Ms. Sage is coming over for dinner, will that be inconvenient for you?"

Dropping her knife and fork on the table, she replied, "As long as she doesn't bring that dog with her, I don't like that dog, that dog stole my lollies and then ate the lollies and then pooed the lollies out on our lawn and I had to clean it up!"

Joseph giggled, but tried not to let it show, she would stop talking to him if she saw him laughing at her, "I'll make sure she doesn't bring the dog with her, darling."

Without warning, Serena pushed her chair back and ran into her room, pulling out a box from under her bed. Inside it was a cockroach she found on her window sill early in the morning, she showed it to her father, "Give this to Ms. Sage, I think it came form her house because remember when we went there to welcome her to the neighbourhood and we walked in and there were boxes everywhere and the house wasn't very tidy? Ms. Sage isn't a very tidy person so the cockroach is probably hers and we should return it to her because you're not allowed to hold onto something that's not yours because it's called stealing. So we should return it to her when she comes over and apologise for it being over here, then we'll have to tell her not to let it come over our fence again, okay?"

"Okay, princess," he moaned.

Something else about his daughter that he never understood was her way of thinking, she tended to ramble on, repeat the same word and complicate a simple sentence with what seemed like a fifty word essay. However, she only talked to people she felt comfortable with, mainly her father, grandmother and kindergarten teachers.

000000

"It was nice of you and your father to invite me over for dinner, Serena," Ms. Sage stated as she placed her fork atop her plate.

Serena replied from the other end of the table, "It was just my father who invited you and not me."

"Oh, well it was nice of him to invite me over for dinner. I noticed you're not eating the same meal as we are, why is that?"

"Because this is happy coloured food and you are eating scary coloured food, I don't like scary food because it makes me vomit and gives me nightmares."  
Ms. Sage smiled wearily at Joseph and turned back to the young girl, "And is there a reason all your food is on separate plates?"

"They don't touch each other this way, I don't like it when two foods touch because it changes the colour of them and sometimes turns them into scary foods."

Ms. Sage didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the girl, she'd never met anyone quite like her.

After dinner, the three of them sat in the lounge and played a game of scrabble. Joseph found himself losing right from the start, but his daughter won every single game because her favourite book to read was the dictionary. Ms. Sage was most impressed with Serena's skill level and suggested he have her moved into school straight away, Joseph shrugged and said he'd miss having her around.

At 8pm, he sent the girl to bed and returned to the lounge, "Look, Penny, I know this was supposed to be a romantic evening, but my mum was out of town and Serena doesn't trust babysitters-"

"It's alright," she whispered, kissing him gently on the lips, "I liked getting to know your daughter, she's very…unique."

His arms went around her waist and pulled her close, "She's weird, I know, you'll get used to it."

"You think?"

"Yeah. Did you know, you're the first person she hasn't constantly kept a close eye on for weeks?"

"I don't understand."

"Usually when she's with somebody she's hardly met, she won't talk, she'll just observe the person until she's certain they mean no harm."

"Well I feel special."

"You are."

He rubbed her body against his and smiled, thinking of what good things could come if his daughter would finally allow another woman into their lives. They would have a chance to be a normal happy family, a slim chance, but a chance.

* * *

Woah, I haven't update this since I got my job 5 months ago lol. Short, I know, but it's sort of like a prologue to the next section of the story. R & R! 


	9. Chapter 9

A knock at the door sometime during the afternoon woke Joseph from his nap, the knocks were light, almost non-existent, as if the person there only mildly wanted an answer. Serena peeked through her bedroom door to see why her father hadn't gotten up yet and discovered it was because he had only just realised there was somebody there. She watched him rise from the couch and stretch before walking over to turn the knob.

The afternoon sun glared in his eyes and made it difficult for him to see who it was, however his eyes became accustomed to the rays and he made out a figure standing in front of him. It took a moment for him to register the person, she had changed well beyond belief, but he still knew her, blonde hair shimmering in the warm breeze, eyes like blue diamonds, pearly white teeth and the most positively unreadable expression he'd ever seen…

Suddenly he slammed the door, rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to see if he was having another recurring dream. He wasn't – this was real.

"Who was it, father?"

Breathing heavily, Joseph snapped, "Nobody! Stop being so nosey! Get back in your room!"

Serena didn't like being yelled at, especially for no reason. Tears welled in her eyes and she closed the door, locking it as she fell to the ground and putting her hands over her eyes.

"Shit!" Joseph growled, pushing up the skin on his forehead, "Shit!"

The knocking continued, this time harder and more demanding.

Joseph looked towards the door and slapped himself across the face, he began hyperventilating, but slowly, he calmed himself down and straightened up his jacket before opening the door again.

"I've come for my daughter," Clarisse announced unexpectedly.

Joseph looked her up and down then went to slam the door in her face again, but she'd already stepped into the house, "Joseph please hear me out."

In a husky voiced he asked, "Why should I?"

"Listen I know you probably hate me for running off, but…I've sorted out my problems and well…I'm back to stay now."

Without invitation, she entered the lounge and clasped her hands together, "So where is my little munchkin?"

"Get out," he whispered angrily, "Leave and don't ever set foot in this house again."

Clarisse looked offended, "I beg your pardon? I have just made a long journey from Africa to meet my daughter and I expect you to present her to me."

Joseph's blood was boiling and he felt his fists clench, "You have no right to make any sort of orders or demands whatsoever. I'd suggest you leave before my temper gets the better of me."

"Joseph-"

"I'm going to count to three and I want you to be out that door or I'm going to have to use physical force. One…"

She didn't leave, she merely slumped down on the sofa and asked for a cup of tea.

"Two…"

"I see you haven't changed the place much."

"Three!"

Confused by the fact she had no intention of leaving, he threw her over his shoulder, carried her across the lounge and dumped her on the doorstep.

"Joseph! What do you think you're doing? Can't you see all I want to do is reconcile?"

The door slammed shut and she found herself bewildered by his temper, "Perhaps we could about talk this over a nice cup of tea? Joseph?"

Joseph had dead bolted the door, making it impossible for her to get back in.

"Father? Who was that scary lady? I don't like her, she made you yell at me."

His little girl was peeking at him through a peephole in her door, "She's someone you're better off living without, princess."

Clarisse started banging on the door again, shouting Joseph's name, "Open the door I need to speak with you. Just five minutes, ten at most."

Ignoring the woman at the front door, Serena crossed to the kitchen and poured a glass of water to drink.

"Honey," Joseph said in his sweetest voice, "Could you possibly stay in your room until I say it's safe to come out? That lady out there and I need to talk."

"But she's going to yell and make you angry again."

He bent down to her level, "Sweetie, I'm at boiling point, I don't think things could get any worse. Just stay in your room and put the television up loud, or listen to white noise or something, just stay in there and don't listen to a word, alright?"

"Alright."

Ducking back into her deep red-painted bedroom, she sat down and turned on the radio, no station was set, so all that could be heard was the screaming white noise. It was the most comforting thing in the world for her, it took her away to a better place where only she existed.

Meanwhile Joseph shut her door and took a moment to breathe, he was about to confront this woman he hadn't seen for five years and he had to think of what to say. Slowly his feet dragged along the ground until he reached the front entrance, he paused, then unlocked the door, "I don't want anything to do with you, I don't want you to come back into Serena's or my life, I want you to leave and never return. Now I think that's fair enough for a person who left for five years to understand, is it not?"

"Joseph," she said calmly, "I just want to talk to you, tell you why I ran away, why I came back."

"No!"

"I want custody of Serena."

Fire blared in his eyes as soon as she said 'custody' and he slammed the door, this time so hard all the paintings fell off the wall and smashed to the ground. He wiped his forehead and clenched his fists so tight they went pale.

Deciding the best thing to do was to calm himself down, he took deep breaths and sat on the couch. Again the knocking continued, but this time he turned the stereo on and pumped up the volume so he couldn't hear anything but the sound of rock music drumming in his ears.

* * *

The next morning Joseph had forgotten all about being angry and concentrated on happy thoughts, like taking his daughter to the zoo in order to increase her knowledge of animals. The zoo was her favourite place in the whole wide world, provided it was a cold and rainy day and no people were around. She loved animals, she felt as if they understood her more than people did. One of the reasons she didn't associate with humans much is because humans are known to lie, but animals can't speak, therefore are always sincere. Serena liked that about animals, which is why she was looking forward to seeing a whole bunch of them.

"I hope there aren't many people there. I hate too many people being in the one place at the one time, they form crowds and I don't like crowds because people push each other too much and they push me and I fall on the ground and I cry because I usually get hurt and have to visit the doctor and I don't like doctors because doctors make mistakes like leaving things inside people and making them be in pain for years and then the people sue the doctors and get rich."

Joseph shook his head and asked her to get in the car. She always sat in the back so she could spread out her books on the spare seats to read.

"What are you reading today, princess?" Joseph asked looking at her through the rear-view mirror as he pulled out of the driveway. She didn't reply, she was too engrossed in her book on Algebra. Joseph knew well enough that he wouldn't hear a peep out of her for the duration of the trip, so he listened to the radio to pass time.

As soon as Joseph opened the car door for his daughter to get out, he was immediately being pressured to see the baby giraffes.

"I like baby giraffes," Serena stated as she leaned over the fence to take a closer look, "They remind me of that jacket you bought for me after I spilled red drink on my new blue one remember? You yelled at me and I got scared and curled up into a ball and wouldn't stop screaming remember? And everyone in the food court was looking at us and I wet my pants and you had to wash them and buy me new pants to wear home and I didn't like the new pants and you said to just wear them, but I didn't like the colour so I took them off and you had to buy some pants that I liked and you were really angry and you hit me and I started screaming louder and you had to cover my mouth until we got to the car, remember?"

"Yes," he sighed sadly, "I remember."

"Can we look at the platypuses now?"

"I don't see why not."

The platypus enclosure was dark and gloomy, Serena felt at peace because she couldn't see anybody around. Two sparkling eyes glared at her from behind the weeds in the tank, then suddenly a large platypus swum out and caught a fish in its bill.

"I think I'd make a good platypus, father, I like being alone in the dark."

Joseph observed the animal and waited for his daughter to extend her sentence into another one-thousand word essay. But she didn't, she remained silent and watched bubbles form in the tank.

"Okay, can we see those flying things that live in a house now?"

"The butterflies?"

"Yeah, can we? But I don't want to go past the snakes or the monkeys, monkeys are scary cos last time we were here they took my hat and tried to wear the hat and I wanted the hat back cos it was my favourite hat and it didn't even suit the monkey cos the monkey was brown and my hat was pink and I told the monkey he should have taken the boy who was standing near me's hat instead because it was yellow and would look better on the monkey than my red hat did. But the monkey didn't take that boy's hat and it started tearing up mine and I was upset and you had to go and buy another one for me to stop me from crying. And the hat you bought was a different shade of red and I wanted the exact same as the hat the monkey took, but you couldn't find one and I wasn't happy about it and started kicking the bins over and the zookeeper wasn't very happy about it and called you a bad father for not controlling me."

Joseph felt a headache coming on and knew it was going to be a long day…

* * *

It was almost dark when they arrived home, Joseph was exhausted from having to listen to Serena's ramblings all day and wanted to get to bed as soon as possible. Unfortunately though, someone was waiting for him when they returned.

He didn't see her until he'd stepped out of the car and opened Serena's door, but when he did, he immediately asked his daughter to lock herself inside the house until he said it was safe to come out.

"Clarisse, did I not make it clear that I, or should I say we want nothing to do with you?"

"You did, but I can't just walk away. I want my daughter back."

"You have no rights to her, you made it clear that you didn't want her when you dumped her on the doorstep when she was only a few days old."

"But I've changed," she wailed.

Joseph looked at her unconvincingly and spoke in a cold tone, "I never want to see or speak to you again, I'd appreciate it if you left us alone."

"But I-"

"Don't make me call the police."

He walked slowly to the house and asked to be let in. Serena opened the door slowly to see if the woman had gone, but she hadn't, she was standing ten metres from the house just staring at Serena through the dark. Clarisse felt a shot of pain jump through her heart at the sight of her daughter - she was beautiful. As the door closed, she felt something warm going through her eyes, tears of pain, but also of joy from seeing her daughter for the first time. She sat on the ground and hugged her knees wishing she was allowed to touch her, to breathe her and observe her features. Her chances of getting to know her seemed slim, but she knew one way or another she'd have her way.

* * *

How quick was that update? I wanted to write this chapter since forever. Since last year! Thanks for reviewing. R & R! 


	10. Chapter 10

The following Monday as Joseph was getting ready to leave for work, he discovered that Serena hadn't woken up. Usually she was up at least an hour before he was, but today she was fast asleep in bed with her head under the covers.

"Honey, it's time to get up and leave for Grandma's house."

The blankets rustled and her head emerged, "Do I have to go to grandma's today? I wanted to stay here and build a house for Harry."

He looked surprised, "Harry?"

"My huntsman."

"Your huntsman!"

"I already started building it," she replied, stepping out of bed and running over to her little table, "See, that's where she eats, that's where she sleeps, that's where she does her yucky business and that's where she watches TV."

Joseph looked at the poorly crafted mess of cardboard and sticky tape trying to imagine a spider living in it, "It's nice."

"Of course I still have to make her a tunnel to hide in and a place for her to shower. Oh, can I have the toilet roll when it's finished?"

"Sure, but can you get ready to go now? My boss said if I'm late today, I shouldn't bother showing up tomorrow."

"Good then, I can stay here and build my spider house."

She sat down on her stool and started cutting out cardboard.

"Get in the car," Joseph spat out quickly, before exiting the room.

As the two were heading out the front door, Serena noticed a strange car in the driveway and alerted her father at once, "Daddy who is that?"

Clarisse emerged from the car and walked quickly towards them, "Oh my god she's absolutely beautiful! Oh I want to just pick her up and squeeze her."

Realising the words were directed at her, Serena hid behind her daddy and stared evilly.

"She's a shy one," Clarisse smiled, looking up at Joseph.

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want you here."

"You did, but I can't stay away. I came back to be with my daughter and I want to spend some time with her, get to know her," she tried to peek around Joseph's legs to catch another glimpse of her daughter, "Don't you want to get to know your mummy, sweetheart?"

Serena's eyes welled up with tears, she was scared, she didn't like it when new people spoke to her and she was confused as to why she was talking about her mother. She knew she didn't have a mother, Joseph had never spoken of a mother, so what was this lady talking about?

"Clarisse, I've said it before and I'll say it again, we don't want you in our lives."

"I want to hear it from my daughter's mouth!"

"Darling, get in the car."

Serena ran as fast as she could to the car, then climbed inside, locked the doors and stared out the window, trying hard not to be seen.

"I have a question for you Clarisse," Joseph muttered coldly, "Why have you come back here? Really? Why have you chosen this particular point in time to come back into our lives?"

"I'll explain everything if you just agree to have tea with me. I'll tell you everything."

He thought silently for a moment, considering her offer, then nodded his head, "My lunch break starts at one, I'll meet you at the Bubba's, they do a great roast, we'll talk then. Don't make me regret it."

He turned on his heel without a farewell of any kind and jumped into the car.

Serena was in deep thought trying to make sense of the conversation she had overheard, she had not yet realised who the woman was, nor why she kept hassling her father. She decided to ask, "Who is she?"

Swallowing tightly he replied, "That was your mother."

Her mouth fell open as she registered his words, "B-but I don't have a mother."

"I'm sorry to say it, but you do."

"Where has she been?"

"Africa, apparently."

"What does she want?"

"I don't know."

"Why does she make you angry?"

He paused, "Because she broke my heart."

Serena wasn't in her normal state of mind, so instead of rambling on about nothing, she stayed silent thinking about what it meant now that she finally had a mother.

* * *

At nine 'o clock Joseph and Serena walked into his mother's house, she ran straight for the television and inserted an educational video into the VCR. Within seconds, she was engrossed. Joseph watched her and turned to his mother, "Clarisse is back."

Josephine's hand flew over her mouth, "Oh my this is terrible! Uh…darling…who is Clarisse again, refresh my memory?"

"The mother of my child."

"Oh yes, yes of course. Oh dear, she's back? But why?"

"I'll tell you when I know for sure."

"You mean she hasn't told you?"

Joseph made sure Serena wasn't listening, then whispered, "I think she wants custody."

"No?"

"I know!"

"No way?"

"Yes way."

"Surely she knows she can't take care of Serena."

"Actually, I've been too busy trying to push her away to explain Serena's condition."

Josephine clasped her hands together and held them to her mouth, "You will tell her she doesn't stand a chance won't you?"

He nodded, kissed her forehead, waved goodbye to Serena and left for work.

* * *

Joseph was dreading his lunch break, yet at the same time he anticipated it. He tried to engross his thoughts into his work, but ended up throwing sugar in the spaghetti and meat in the cake batter. Cursing himself he threw out the tainted dishes and started again, being sure to pay attention to what he was doing.

When lunchtime came he found himself glued to the sidewalk, it would only take a minute on foot to get to Bubba's on foot, but he was reluctant to meet up with Clarisse. Slowly but surely he took the first step, then the second, then before he knew it he was running, then he realised he'd run past the restaurant had to run back.

Clarisse arrived on time and was waiting for him out the front. He didn't greet her, instead he motioned for her to go in. Removing the dark glasses she wore so as not to be recognised on the street, she followed Joseph into the eating area and sat opposite him at a table in the corner of the vacant room. They ordered their food, then got down to business.

"I'm glad you agreed to talk to me," she told him, picking up a menu and making a wall across their table with it, "I have a lot I need to get off my chest."

He focused his attention on the menu to avoid having to make eye-contact with her, "You have one hour, I suggest you get talking."

"Alright," she said, crossing her hands on the table, "I suppose I'll start from the beginning. The reason I left is because you stopped loving me. I wanted to take Serena with me so we wouldn't have to go to court and I wouldn't have to live with the pain of seeing you every day and not being able to love you. But when she wouldn't stop crying despite my efforts to comfort her I couldn't handle it, I knew raising a child on my own would be too much for me. After I left her on the doorstep, I went to live with my cousin Angelica for a while. I cried every day over the two of you and almost came back, but decided to be strong and continue trying to get over my pain. Eventually Angie grew annoyed with my moping around all day and suggested I do something with my life. She tried to persuade me to go back to Rupert, but I didn't think it wise. One day I saw an ad in the national paper for relief workers in Africa, so I joined up, left the country and flew over without a second thought. Ever since then I've been helping starving children receive cases of food and fresh water, it's such a joy to see their faces light up when they see a truck coming down the road."

Clarisse was smiling as she spoke, but paused when she noticed Joseph's sad expression, "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you try and contact us?"

"I couldn't. I wanted to forget about that chapter of my life and move on. It was too painful to even think about the two of you, let alone make contact."

Joseph raised his voice, "Then why are you making contact now? Why this particular point in time, huh?"

Drawing in a deep breath, she sighed, "I met someone."

He rolled his eyes and looked to see the food coming, as soon as it was placed on their table he used it as a distraction, "This looks delicious."

"Joseph," she called seriously, "Did you hear what I said?"

"You met someone - big deal," he moaned, shoving a spoonful of peas into his mouth.

"Actually it is a big deal. His name is Brian, I met him at the relief core. He asked me to marry him…I said yes."

Almost as soon as she said the last word, he spat his food all over her and ss the half-chewed peas slid down her face, she moaned, "Charming."

Clarisse wiped her face with a napkin and placed it beside her, "I need you to sign the divorce papers, I sent them to your house two days ago."

Joseph was red in the face, "I can't sign what hasn't arrived."

"Well that's okay, as long as you sign them."

He glared at her, "Oh I'll sign them, don't you worry."

"I sent something else as well, custody agreement forms. I want Serena to live with me."

Joseph giggled, then he started laughing, then a minute later he broke into hysterics.

"What's so funny? She's my daughter too, you know."

"Haha, you can't honestly think I'd agree to that, aha," he laughed.

"If we can't settle this here, I am willing to go to court and win her fair and square."

Joseph's face became extremely serious, "Our daughter is not a prize to be one. You have no rights to her, you made that clear when you dumped her on the doorstep. I've spent the past five years raising her to become the girl she is today and I'm not going to let you, nor anyone else take her away from me. Even if I did agree to 'give' her to you, you can make damn sure she'll put up a fight."

"You seem to forget, I have money, I have power and I will have my daughter."

"Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged."

His eyes narrowed, "Why do you want her so badly? I mean in five years you couldn't find time to pick up the phone or write a stupid letter, and now you come here out of the blue and suddenly she's the only thing in the world that matters to you?"

Clarisse massaged her temples and stared him in the eye, "When I was in Africa I caught a terrible disease and was bedridden for three weeks. Every morning I would wake up in severe pain and by the afternoon I wished I were dead-"

"Spare me the details," he grunted.

"The experience left me practically infertile, Brian and I have tried and tried for a baby, but the doctors say it'll be nearly impossible. I have less than a one percent chance of ever conceiving another child."

"And you want Serena to fill in the time until you do conceive again? Interesting…tell me, what will you do to her when the new child is born? Hand her back to me?"

"It's not like that at all!"

"Well it sounds like that to me!"

"If or when a new baby arrives, of course she will be welcome to stay. I love her and I want to her to live with me."

Joseph, despite his anger began laughing, "You wouldn't last five minutes with her in your care Clarisse."

"Oh bull-"

"She doesn't know you!"

"What has that got to do with anything? She can get to know me."

He stood up, "Clarisse! You don't know your daughter, trust me when I say it, she won't want to live with you!"

Clarisse rose as well, "You're not going to hand her over then?"

"NO!"

"Then I shall get a court order and we can battle this out in a humane manner."

She put on her shades, exited the restaurant and was gone without a trace. Joseph paid the bill and went back to work, he desperately wanted to get his mother's opinion on the matter, but that would have to wait. In a fit of anger he continued his day and eagerly awaited 5pm.


	11. Chapter 11

After pacing the living room floor of the old, run-down house, Joseph turned to his mother and gazed at her with disbelief, "What did you just say?"

"I said I think she has every right to see her daughter and get to know her like we do-"

"She has no right!"

She does…provided her intentions are good. She should have the same rights to see Serena as you or I, providing she doesn't take her away from her home and family. Is she really planning to move Serena to India?"

"Africa, and yes she is."

"And she's going to drag you through the courts to get her?"

"Can you believe it?"

"No I can't," Josie replied, sitting on the edge of the sofa, clasping her hands in her lap, "It's highly immoral."

"I know, so what can I do about it?"

"Perhaps you should talk to her again, explain Serena's condition, especially the mood swings and bad temper, that should be enough to drive anyone away."

Joseph smiled, "Yes you're right, Clarisse couldn't handle her crying when she was only three days old, imagine how she'll react when I tell her Serena's temper has sky-rocketed since they last met. That should be enough to send her packing, Mom, you are so clever."

"That's what mothers are for."

* * *

It didn't take long for Clarisse to show up on the doorstep again, but when she did Joseph was ready for her, he was well-prepared for the situation and ready to take control. He was going to explain why taking Serena wasn't in either of their best interests. When she arrived on at the door, Clarisse was surprised to find she was let in the house without an argument. Sitting on the kitchen stool, she gazed around and smiled at the same floral pattern of the curtains, which hung above the sink when she last lived there.

Joseph brewed a pot of tea and brought it over to the table, "I was hoping you'd return."

"I'm glad you decided to talk to me about all this before we have to take it to court. Perhaps we can sort things out here and now."

"Precisely what I was thinking, but first of all, I want to explain something to you."

"Well I suppose I can let you speak first, what do you want to tell me?"

Pouring a cup of tea for himself and for her, he smiled, "How much do you know about our daughter?"

"Well not much, but we've all the time in the world to get to know each other."

"Did you know she was still crawling up until age two when she finally noticed she possessed two feet?"

"No, but I'm glad I know now."

"Did you know she has a birthmark on the side of her knee similar to the one on your…unmentionable area."

Clarisse blushed, "That's dear."

"Did you know she was born with a serious condition? An illness, if you will?"

Her face dropped, "Illness? What sort of an illness? She looks perfectly normal to me."

"The doctors can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but they believe it's halfway between autism and aspergus syndrome."

"What are the symptoms?"

Joseph took a deep breath, paused, then opened his mouth, "Symptoms include disobedience, inability to understand and communicate with other people, hating certain colours, but loving others, thinking everyone in the world is out to cause harm, very severe tantrum throwing, violent temperament, requiring things to be perfect, strict diets, selective isolation and an extreme hatred of being touched or addressed, particularly with unfamiliar people."

He cleared his throat and waited for her to speak, for a moment she didn't, as she was taking in everything he said, then she frowned, "You're lying. You're just saying these things to put me off wanting custody."

"Check her medical records, I can assure you I'm not lying. Even if I was, there's still no chance in hell that I'm going to let you take her."

Stepping out of her seat, she stood tall, "Obviously can't work this out ourselves, my lawyer said it would be better to make arrangements outside of court, but if you insist on keeping her all to yourself, then I have no option. I look forward to gaining custody of my child."

With that she left, leaving him with a look of hatred on his face and a thousand nagging thoughts running through his mind.

* * *

On Thursday morning he found a large yellow satchel in the mailbox signed by someone called Nichetti. Opening it, he discovered that this person was a divorce lawyer who had sent the papers that would end their brief five years of marriage. The papers that now had a permanent seat on the coffee table were frequently observed by their recipient, who wondered how signing them would benefit him. On one hand, it would end all commitments and he would be free to live his life with another woman, but on the other hand, it also allowed Clarisse to marry her so called, "second love". Joseph remembered that she had asked him to sign them and he had agreed to it, yet now he was reluctant, for it would make her happy and that was something he did not want right now.

Josie popped in for an unexpected visit later that night to discuss the days events, first she told him of every single bargain she found while out shopping, then she let him speak. She sat attentively as he repeated every word of the conversation he'd had with Clarisse, but as he explained her reaction to finding out about Serena's condition, Josie began to worry, "She didn't believe you? Surely you presented Serena's medical records?"

"Clarisse left before I could even think about getting them out and I don't think she'll be dropping by the house again anytime soon, she made it perfectly clear she wants to battle things out in court."

"Then let her, let her try, you and I both know she doesn't stand a chance."

"You could be right, you know."

Joseph kissed her cheek and stood up, "I'd best be off, come Serena."

It didn't take long for Clarisse's lawyers to get in touch with Joseph, they were asking about the divorce papers, as well as custody agreement forms, but Joseph hadn't signed either. Another meeting was arranged between Clarisse and Joseph, this time along with their representatives so they could attempt to sort out an arrangement, however one of the two parties always disagreed on some, or all of the terms, so a hearing in the family court was scheduled - the only thing Clarisse and Joseph could agree on was the date.

* * *

Thought it about time to update, R & R. 


	12. Chapter 12

Due to it being at least 2 years since I updated this, you may want to do what I did and read it again :S

* * *

The court proceedings seemed to go on forever. It had been over a year since they began and the only thing that had been signed and accepted was Clarisse's file for divorce. Effectively, she was able to marry her "second love" Brian. The custody battle for Serena was long and tiresome as neither party could agree on an arrangement. Clarisse wanted Serena to live with her in Africa and have her visit Joseph every second Christmas. Joseph wanted to continue raising his daughter as he had done for her entire life. He wanted Clarisse to stay in the country so she could see their daughter any time she liked. As for Serena, she just wanted things to stay the way they were. The few times she had seen her mother in the past year had done nothing to boost her opinion of the woman who gave birth to her.

One summer evening, Clarisse showed up without warning on Joseph's doorstep and rapidly began knocking on the window. Pulling back the curtains to see who was outside, Joseph frowned. She appeared fuming mad as he reluctantly opened the door. What did she want?

Without even saying hello, she stormed through the doorway waving her hands about in a questionable manner, "Why can't you just give her to me so we can spare the expense of all these overpriced lawyers and these long, boring court sessions that seem to be getting us nowhere?"

Slumping down onto a couch, she caught her breath and stared at him as he closed the door, folding her arms.

"So nice of you to drop in, Clarisse."

He turned to face her, wondering why she had come back to the house after all these months, "Are you going to answer my question?"

Smiling, Joseph crossed to the kitchen and shook his head, "Would you like some tea?"

Clarisse turned in her seat and glared at him, "No I don't want any damn tea!"

Putting the kettle on, Joseph turned to her and focused his attention on the large wooly red thing tied around her neck, "Why are you wearing a scarf in this heat?"

She pulled it tighter around her neck, "I think it looks nice."

"A red scarf with a green dress? What is this, Christmas?"

Clarisse frowned and breathed uncomfotably. Joseph sensed something was the matter - something other than what she stated when she barged through the door - but he would wait for her to open up the lines of communication.

"Can you please stop being a moron and just hand over my daughter? She belongs with her natural mother!"

Joseph slammed his hands down on the back of her chair and lowered his head, putting his mouth so close to her ear she could feel his breath on her skin, "She belongs here," he growled, gritting his teeth, "I raised her from a baby. She trusts me."

He stood up and walked around to the couch opposite her, "What do you honestly think is going to happen? You think if you take her out of this environment she's going to be happy? You think she's going to appreciate you shifting her away to some far off country where everybody is a stranger, including yourself?"

"I'm her mother-"

Joseph raised his voice significantly, "You left her! You gave up your maternal rights when you walked out that door six years ago! As far as I'm concerned, you have no right to her. She is MY daughter! I'm the one who changed her nappies when she was young, took care of her when she was ill, fed her, took her to the park, took her to school. Where were you when all this was happening? Fucking some asshole in Africa!"

Her jaw dropped.

"I can't believe I could have ever loved you. What the hell was I thinking?"

A lump formed in her throat as he continued his torment, "You're a scheming, selfish bitch! You only care about what's best for you, not our daughter. I wish you would just leave and never come back and-"

The scarf caught his eye again and he reached for it, "-take that stupid scarf off!!"

Without thinking, Joseph pulled the scarf from around her neck and threw it on the floor. Instinctively Clarisse cupped her hands around her neck while Joseph reared up for another attack of words, yet as he was about to open his mouth, something made it hard for the words to come out. He could tell by the way Clarisse was eagar for him not to see her neck that something was seriously wrong. Quickly he grabbed her wrists and briefly held them away from her neck. Red marks lined the once pale white skin of her neck, formed in the shape of hand prints.

Watching a tear fall from her eye, his voice softened, "Brian?"

She nodded and sniffled.

Joseph sat back in his chair and placed his chin to his fist, "When did this start?"

Clarisse retrieved her scarf from the floor and wrapped it around her neck once more, "It's not your business."

He insisted, "When did it start?"

"A day or two after we were married."

"Im sorry to hear that," Joseph lied, quite happy that her perfect man was not so perfect after all.

"It's your fault, you know."

"MY fault? I wasn't standing there holding his hands around your neck."

"It's your fault because you're making it hard for us to have the daughter we always wanted."

Smiling deliberately, Joseph shook his head, "What did you expect? You think you can just show up out of the blue one day, retrieve Serena and take her back to Africa with you?"

"We never expected you to put up a fight."

Joseph laughed - of course he would put up a fight, "Your ignorance surprises me, Clarisse. Why don't you go up to the palace and 'retrieve' one of your other children? You remember them? Pierre, your first born and Philippe, your favourite?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Rupert would never let me take them."

"But you expect me to oblige?"

"YES!"

Almost on cue, the kettle started whistling.

Five minutes later they were seated at the table drinking tea from the same mugs that had occupied the cupboards when she left.

"So why don't you leave him? If he's that bad?"

Clarisse stared at the tea leaves in the bottom of her cup, "He's not always like that. He just gets so angry sometimes."

"How often are we talking?"

"Maybe once every...week...or so.

Joseph nearly spat out his tea, "Once a week?"

"Usually on a Friday night or early Saturday morning, depending on when he leaves the pub."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You want our daughter to live with an abusive alcoholic?"

"I know once we gain custody, he'll calm down. He wants a daughter more than anything."

"He wants my daughter? What does he want her for, Clarisse? What if he turns out to be some sort of sexual pervert? I mean how well do you really know this guy? Could you live with yourself knowing you've turned your only daughter into a sex-slave for some violent and dirty old man?"

Clarisse's eyes were streaming as she shook her head, "He's not like that!"

"They never are until you catch them in the act."

"Oh stop it!"

The two were glaring at each other across the table, at this rate they would never reach a compromise on their daughter's future. They sat breathing heavily, staring each other down and not daring to break eye contact.

Joseph was the first to speak, "You may have better lawyers than me, but let me assure you that no judge in their right mind would grant you and that beast of yours custody of our daughter."

Lost for words, Clarisse looked his face over as more tears fell from her eyes, "I knew I shouldn't have confided in you."

Suddenly the front door flew open and Josie came in with Serena following three feet behind, "I'm sorry we're late, darling, Serena wanted to watch the fish swimming in the-"

Her eyes locked onto Clarisse and the smile ran away from her face, "Oh. I didn't realise you had company, darling."

The two women nodded to each other, but not a word was spoken between them. Josie stood wondering how to exit this awkward situation.

Serena had noticed her mother sitting at the table before she'd even stepped inside. She was staring blank-faced at her, wondering what she was doing here. Clarisse smiled at her, and Serena ducked behind her grandmother and stepped carefully behind her until she was safely inside her room.

"I should go," Clarisse said shakily.

"I'll see you out."

Once outside, Joseph closed the door behind them.

He walked Clarisse to her car and caught her arm as she went to open it, "Clarisse?"

Startled, she gazed at him in the moonlight, "Yes?"

Joseph shifted uncomfortably and gripped her hand, "I'm going to regret saying this, but-"

"Yes?"

"If you ever need to talk to anyone about this," he pointed to her neck, "You know where I am."

Taken back at his sudden caring nature, she smiled sadly and nodded her head, "Thank you."

Clarisse waited for him to remove his grip on her hand before she stepped into the car and pulled out of the driveway.

Joseph shook his head and looked up at the stars - he would never let her take Serena now. If in the unlikely event that Clarisse did win the court-case, he would kidnap Serena and take her to America or some other country he knew Clarisse would never set foot in.

Joseph heard a door open and listened as footsteps made their way across the gravel towards him. He turned just as they drew near him and smiled, "Good Evening Penny."

It was Ms. Sage from next door, a very small, but attractive lady with dark brown hair and green eyes, "Good Evening."

"What a relief it is to see you Penny," he drew her into a hug, "It's been an exhausting evening."

"Was that your ex?" She pointed to the place where Clarisse's car had recently been parked.

"Yeah," Joseph sighed loudly, "Things would be a lot easier if she'd just go back to where she came from."

Penny stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek, "I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like to talk about it? You could come over to my place if you want? Maybe even stay the night?"

Joseph had never stayed the night at her house. In fact he had never really been inside her house. Whenever he tried to visit, Serena wouldn't come in with him and he couldn't leave her by herself at home, so they would end up chatting only on the doorstep. Penny came to their house almost every day, but Serena's fear of having someone other than her father or grandmother in the house while she was sleeping prevented her from staying over.

"I'd love to," he grinned excitedly, "I'll have to ask my mother if she can stay with Serena tonight."

Two hours later the two lay naked with hot sweaty sheets stuck to their bodies. They hadn't yet discussed what he had apparently come over for, they were more interested in each other.

"Joseph?" Penny asked, exhausted from the previous hour's events, "When did you realise you were in love with me?"

His eyes widened. He didn't remember saying he was in love with her. He was fond of her, but truth be told she could never take Clarisse's place in his heart. Nobody had yet and nobody probably would. She was the first woman he actually loved and although she hadn't been entirely pleasant towards him recently, the last few minutes they'd spent together this evening had made him realise he was still in love with her after all the pain she had caused him.

Realising Penny was growing eagar for his answer, he suddenly had to think fast, "I knew I loved you the day I met you."

Every muscle in his body tensed as she smiled and rested her head on his sticky chest, "Hmm...me too."

Oh god, what had he gotten himself into?

* * *

I'm interested in this story again! Read and Review PLEASE.


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